Kickstarter Projects

Grim Dawn just posted a pretty comprehensive set of stretch goals; right now they are at 327K with a week to go so it seems likely they'll achieve at least the first couple. I would be surprised if it gets much beyond 400K though. Sounds like the game won't be super-long although it should have high replay value between 5 different classes that can be combined and randomly generated worlds.

Spoiler: show

350k■Dual wielding pistols (feature tech and new animation set)

$360k■25 extra pieces of unique item art

$375k■Additional end-game boss monster (total of 2) lurking somewhere out there in the darkness for you to find...

$385k■25 more pieces of unique item art

$400k■A new environment set that you'll get to decide on. We'll create a thread on the Grim Dawn forums to discuss ideas with fans, then select the best ideas and create a poll for you to vote the one you want most.

$412k■2 additional monster types (models and animations)

$425k■Three large, high-level dungeons, each with its own theme and named hero monster. The dungeon entrances will randomly appear in the world.

$450k■Savage two-handed melee weapons (includes animations and all the art required to create an entirely new item type)

$465■Additional end-game boss (total of 3) to encounter in some dark and dangerous corner of the world.

$480k■New survivor town hidden in the remote wilderness for you to discover. Will include a new faction group and new quest-lines to unlock once you've gained their trust.

Republiq has made is to $489k, big jump - hope they make it. The iOS ecosystem needs games of this level, both to show it can be done, and to become a more legit competitor to the separate game consoles.

It made it, there isn't a chance in hell someone from the dev team hasn't already gone to the bank/loanshark to come up with the rest of the cash. They'll finish it off with 15 minutes to go if needed.

...And I didn't have to wait long, either! For a project that limped along for quite a while, it really jumped up in the last few days and skyrocketed on the last day. Republique is fully funded with over 6 hours to go!

I'm really surprised Republique got funded. My first couple Kickstarter projects all got funded within a day or two. Then this game came along and wasn't even one-fifth of the way funded halfway through the 30 days. I can't believe how much money they got the last 2-3 days. Crazy stuff.

I'm really surprised Republique got funded. My first couple Kickstarter projects all got funded within a day or two. Then this game came along and wasn't even one-fifth of the way funded halfway through the 30 days. I can't believe how much money they got the last 2-3 days. Crazy stuff.

It's also the first big budget iOS only game to be funded like this. I think it's been spotlighted the last couple days in various places as well.

Also, not trading on nostalgia/name recognition, so this is a pretty big deal actually.

I'm really surprised Republique got funded. My first couple Kickstarter projects all got funded within a day or two. Then this game came along and wasn't even one-fifth of the way funded halfway through the 30 days. I can't believe how much money they got the last 2-3 days. Crazy stuff.

It's also the first big budget iOS only game to be funded like this. I think it's been spotlighted the last couple days in various places as well.

Also, not trading on nostalgia/name recognition, so this is a pretty big deal actually.

Adding the PC/Mac versions (something they planned to do at a later date, but prioritized after community feedback) brought in some more people, as did the announcement of the involvement of David Hayter and Jennifer Hale. I also noticed that many of the publications that have pimped a lot of other Kickstarter projects just didn't seem to notice this one until late. Those two announcements got some attention from those publications and that's when they saw some nice jumps in funding to put it within striking distance for the end line sprint.

Jumping in the fray a little late here I recently discovered kickstarter and backed Shadowrun Returns, I'm backing Grim Dawn now and it just passed its goal with days left.

I read the article on the front page today and clicked though the find this thread. I think kickstarter is a great idea and way for Devs to get more involved in the community. It gives them full creative control and the feedback from backers is really the best kind of market research you can do! With that said I only back games that not only interest me but have a good chance at succeeding, meaning I don't back ideas you have to have something to show, maybe a team that has developed other games or even a working concept/alpha like what grim dawn is showing off.

I recently discovered kickstarter and backed Shadowrun Returns, I'm backing Grim Dawn now and it just passed its goal with days left.

I read the article on the front page today and clicked though the find this thread. I think kickstarter is a great idea and way for Devs to get more involved in the community. It gives them full creative control and the feedback from backers is really the best kind of market research you can do! With that said I only back games that not only interest me but have a good chance at succeeding, meaning I don't back ideas you have to have something to show, maybe a team that has developed other games or even a working concept/alpha like what grim dawn is showing off.

</my 2c>

Welcome to the community, but I think you represent a commonly seen cognitive dissonance to which I want to comment.

When Jordan Weisman announced ShadowRun Returns, very few people noted that he didn't actually work on game design for the Genesis or SNES versions (as far as I can tell from MobyGames). I have no doubts regarding his abilities as a general game designer, but functionally speaking, he's already done all the PnP design work for ShadowRun. Does he have what it takes to make a fun video game out of it? We'll see. And when he announced SR, he didn't really have a vision document in mind. His team, also, has only made one iOS game and is working on a second. Yet we were willing to throw money at him due to our love for the ShadowRun universe.

It's a different type of trust than for Brian Fargo, Tim Schafer, or Arthur Bruno, who were at least designers and producers. *shrug*

I'm willing to trust people with $15 on a whim and a promise that I'll get something cool eventually. I've spent $20+ on plenty of hardcover books it only took me a day or two to read. Even if the project crashes and burns I'll still probably get $15 of entertainment value out of it the resulting drama. I'm less likely to toss $50 or $100 at something that doesn't seem pretty likely to actually occur in a reasonable time frame.

I'm willing to trust people with $15 on a whim and a promise that I'll get something cool eventually. I've spent $20+ on plenty of hardcover books it only took me a day or two to read. Even if the project crashes and burns I'll still probably get $15 of entertainment value out of it the resulting drama. I'm less likely to toss $50 or $100 at something that doesn't seem pretty likely to actually occur in a reasonable time frame.

I'll echo that sentiment. I keep the notion that kickstarter is like gambling on video games. It could be good, could be bad, could cease to exsits. I don't spend more than I'm willing to lose on backing a project. Kind of a pessimistic way of thinking about it but that way I'll never be dissapointed.

All depends. Personally I like the idea of patronage and that concept and inclusion goes a long way towards my willingness to lay down money. This all started with Doublefine, right? Seasoned and critically acclaimed industry vets with a proven track record who want to delve into a genre publishers no longer touch. On top of that there is documentary and window into the ongoing process. I would have been sold on either as seperate entities.

Then you have projects like Banner Saga. Extremely compelling idea attached to individuals with industry experience. While I have no doubt the game itself will look good I'd say the gameplay is a crapshoot. Notice the individuals involved are artists and programmers. Not designers. Still worth a chance. Throw on top their absolutely amazing art-oriented reward tiers and taking a bigger chance became quite palatable. Once you hit a certain reward tier the art (be it posters, wall art, music, etc) became the focus and the game a bonus. If I had the cash I would have kicked in for the shadowbox cut.

Shadowrun is about a brand legend that would just not exist had the project not been funded. A high risk, no real expectations, but the potential payout is enormous.

Other projects, other reasons. People approach each differently, but I think that is a large part of the draw. Each is personal in a way that the big publishers could never provide.

Pretty, but mechanically boring compared to its spiritual predecessor and its overwrought Randian rantings had nothing on the sheer terror that System Shock inspired in me at times. A pretty big disappointment once the wow factor of its excellent opening wore off.

All I want to know is WHERE THE FUCK IS THE SYSTEM SHOCK 3 (OR SYSTEM SHOCK 2 REMAKE) PROJECT ALREADY, I HAVE MONEY WAITING TO THROW AT SOMEONE.

I hope that never happens. Allow me to explain why:1. I love Sci-fi. I will play any good sci-fi game, and watch every good sci-fi movie I can get my hands on.2. I tried playing System shock 2 once. After 15min on that creepy-ass ship I just had to stop. I was just about crapping my pants, and I had yet to see an enemy yet; just dead body's and ghosts. I had nightmares about that shit for weeks. If SS2 were to be remade with Bioshock level graphics or better, I would probably force myself to play through the entire thing, and then never sleep again.

All I want to know is WHERE THE FUCK IS THE SYSTEM SHOCK 3 (OR SYSTEM SHOCK 2 REMAKE) PROJECT ALREADY, I HAVE MONEY WAITING TO THROW AT SOMEONE.

I hope that never happens. Allow me to explain why:1. I love Sci-fi. I will play any good sci-fi game, and watch every good sci-fi movie I can get my hands on.2. I tried playing System shock 2 once. After 15min on that creepy-ass ship I just had to stop. I was just about crapping my pants, and I had yet to see an enemy yet; just dead body's and ghosts. I had nightmares about that shit for weeks. If SS2 were to be remade with Bioshock level graphics or better, I would probably force myself to play through the entire thing, and then never sleep again.

All I want to know is WHERE THE FUCK IS THE SYSTEM SHOCK 3 (OR SYSTEM SHOCK 2 REMAKE) PROJECT ALREADY, I HAVE MONEY WAITING TO THROW AT SOMEONE.

I hope that never happens. Allow me to explain why:1. I love Sci-fi. I will play any good sci-fi game, and watch every good sci-fi movie I can get my hands on.2. I tried playing System shock 2 once. After 15min on that creepy-ass ship I just had to stop. I was just about crapping my pants, and I had yet to see an enemy yet; just dead body's and ghosts. I had nightmares about that shit for weeks. If SS2 were to be remade with Bioshock level graphics or better, I would probably force myself to play through the entire thing, and then never sleep again.

But think of how much more productive you'll be!

I'm already an insomniac, and sleep madness is not conducive to productivity

I have very fond memories of playing through the Pandora Directive. Seems that they're nearly 15% to their goal already.

*stares balefully at Ravebomb*You.... bastard...

First you go me into MLP:FiM, then you helped with Wasteland 2 getting its hooks into me (which I couldn't make an account fast enough and throw money at Fargo).. then you encouraged me to do O.G.R.E. (barely made my saving throw on that -- but it was a near thing --- and my wife had to assist for me to even make that save).. but now this too?

Both are space based games, Drifter is top down 2.5D and Kinetic Void is 1st/3rd person 3d space game. Kinetic Void has a neat shipyard already released for it that you can build a ship and fly around in. Sold me on the game.

I have very fond memories of playing through the Pandora Directive. Seems that they're nearly 15% to their goal already.

*stares balefully at Ravebomb*You.... bastard...

First you go me into MLP:FiM, then you helped with Wasteland 2 getting its hooks into me (which I couldn't make an account fast enough and throw money at Fargo).. then you encouraged me to do O.G.R.E. (barely made my saving throw on that -- but it was a near thing --- and my wife had to assist for me to even make that save).. but now this too?

I label you "Corruptor"!

I think you missed the SpaceVenture game from Two Guys From Andromeda (ie: The Space Quest guys)

It really seems like space flight sim type games are not getting love.Skyjacker isn't really finding many backers and it looks a lot further along than Kinetic Void. (And more polished)

Took a look at the demo build of Skyjacker. It is far further along then Kinetic void but the art direction they took with Skyjacker just didn't do it for me. I get that they wanted curves and organic looking lines on the ships but I think it just looks ugly.